A shark that attacked a beachgoer in Honduras was hunted down and beaten by vengeful locals.
Dramatic video captured the moment the shark was hooked to a line and pummeled with a wooden club after the terrifying encounter earlier in the day.
The incident unfolded after farmer Roberto Bu, 38, joined another farmer and his family Monday on a trip to inspect their crops and decided to stop by the beach in Tela, a seaside town in Atlántida.
Bu and multiple members of the group were swimming near a dock when he was suddenly attacked, HNC news television reported.
‘I thought he was joking because we were playing on the shore of the beach. Then a wave came in and he started yelling, “Help me, help me,” witness Lizette Arita told the outlet.
Roberto Bu survived a shark attack while swimming at a beach in Tela, Honduras on Monday
Locals were able to track down the shark and beat it with a wooden club after the attack
Arita said that Bu attempted to fight off the shark.
‘Then he started hitting it hard and that’s when the animal came up. It was a shark. It wasn’t small. It was super big. We saw its black fin,’ she said. ‘He started fighting with the animal. Then we started running to the shore, my father yelling, “Get out, get out, run.”‘
As Bu was rushed to Tela Hospital, he was reportedly heard telling bystanders, ‘I fought that shark.’
He underwent emergency surgery for injuries to his back and his front right thigh, Tela Hospital assistant director Dr. Zulmy López told HNC.
‘He is currently out of danger,’ said López, who added that it was the first time that the hospital treated a patient for a shark attack.
‘He had lost a lot of blood and was given a transfusion. He is in the recovery room.’
Roberto Bu had surgery on his back and thigh after he was bitten by the shark
As Bu was rushed to the hospital, he was reportedly heard telling bystanders, ‘I fought that shark’
Roberto Bu is expected to undergo reconstructive surgery on his right thigh due to the loss of muscle
López added that Bu will most likely be transferred to Mario Catarino Rivas Hospital in San Pedro Sula for reconstructive surgery on the right thigh due to the loss of muscle.
The shark attack is the second since September 17, when 33-old Fernando Mendoza was nearly killed in Trujillo, a city in Colón.
Mendoza was shellfishing from a beach in Puerto Castillo when he was ambushed by a shark and bit on the left leg.
Mendoza was taken to a local hospital and underwent surgery to treat wounds to the leg and knee
Despite two attacks in a span of a month, marine biologist Gabriella Ochoa told El Heraldo newspaper that sharks are not preying on humans as a source of food.
‘Sharks don’t eat people, we are not part of their diet,’ Ochoa said. ‘Sharks feed on fish, mollusks and turtles, as they have a varied diet.’
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
